In the Ketchum Art Gallery at 4:30 pm on Wednesday, March 27th, the Creative Writing Club (CWC) welcomed members of the UNE community to listen to and recite poems at their first open-mic poetry gathering of the year. The event encouraged women poets to participate in honor of March Women’s History Month and National Poetry Month beginning in April.

The event was arranged by CWC President Anjana Govindaraj, Vice President Rachel Deren, and Treasurer Lizzy Baker. They invited CWC members and first-time poetry readers to share a combination of favorite and original poems (and the lyrics of a few songs).  

Ten speakers who signed up throughout the night chose to stand or sit in front of 20 peers and recite. Themes ranged from childhood wonder and epiphanies, reunions, and complex relationships to self-love, hope, and land sharks. 

“This was a great moment to get everyone together and engage in creative writing or appreciate others’ creativity,” Deren said. Throughout the event, passersby popped their heads into the gallery or paused to listen through the windows.   

This is not the only poetry event the CWC hosts at UNE. In the fall, CWC hosted a formal collaborative reading event that focused on pieces from the latest issue of Zephyr, UNE’s annual creative arts publication featuring student and staff poems, photographs, visual art, and prose.  

“I wanted it [this event] to fit spring, be more casual, open, and freeing,” Govindaraj said in response to the event’s contrast from the Fall’s. “I think an open-mic night fits the spring vibe, the starting of something new, the kind of growth that spring inspires.”   

To become a member of CWC, join them on Presence for email updates, or follow their Instagram @une_cwc. The club meets bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. in Decary 208.